RiverDogs Mike Veeck to teach grad class

Veeck, whose is known for his “Fun is Good” approach to work and life, will teach a graduate course at The Citadel beginning in January. “The Art of Selling” integrates sales, marketing, and advertising in sport management, highlighting topics such as personnel and customer service.

This will be Veeck’s first time teaching college students.

“Throughout my checkered career, teaching is one thing that I have always aspired to do,” Veeck said. “I have siblings who teach on the college level, and they tell me the rewards are very gratifying. I can’t wait to start.”

The Veeck family started in baseball nearly a century ago when Mike’s grandfather was president of the Chicago Cubs. Mike’s father, Bill, a member of the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., was the owner of the St. Louis Browns, Cleveland Indians, and Chicago White Sox. Bill Veeck is remembered for signing Larry Doby, the first African-American to play in the American League and for sending 3-foot, 6-inch Eddie Gaedel to the plate for the Browns in a 1951 game against Detroit.

Mike began his baseball career with the White Sox and also worked for the Detroit Tigers and Tampa Bay Devil Rays. It is his inherited belief that anything is possible and no idea so silly, and that is how Veeck operates his ball clubs and businesses. Veeck has hired a dog and a pig to deliver baseballs to the umpire, a Roman Catholic nun to give massages, mimes to perform instant replays and locked out fans of the stadium to set an all-time attendance for the fewest people at a game.

Founder of the popular Veeck Promotional Seminars and all-around idea man, Veeck in 2005 authored the book “Fun Is Good,” which describes how this simple philosophy can lead to success in any business. He is also president of Veeck Advertising Professionals in Charleston.

“We are extremely pleased that Mike Veeck has joined our adjunct graduate faculty. His expertise in the applied science of sport management adds a new dimension to our course concentration with The Citadel’s Master of Business Administration program,” said John Carter, head of the Health Exercise and Sport Science Department.

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